I'm sure you've faced it. A computer that was super fast when it was purchased has of late been slowing down and frustrating you to the point where you want smash it or throw it away and buy a new one. You wonder what you did wrong and wonder if there is anything you can do to fix it. The good news is that there is something you can do to fix and speed up your lagging computer.

What causes a computer to slow down? Several things contribute to a computer losing processing power and speed, but one of the main enemies of PC speed are saved files taking up hard drive space. The more data that your hard drive has on it, the longer it takes the PC to find the data it's looking for, thus slowing your computer down. By fixing this issue, you can reclaim much of the speed your computer has lost since you bought it.

The first step to speeding up your computer is to clean out your Internet cache. Your browser records all your recent surfing activity including a copy of web pages, images, and media, as well as a list of URLs or web sites you have visited. It's easy to see that if you surf the Internet very much, your computer will collect a large amount of data that does nothing but take up space. To clear you Internet cache, open up your browser to your home page. In this tutorial, we are using Internet Explorer. Click on the Tools button. Go to Internet Options. There will be several options available. Be sure to delete the Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, and History. While you are in the Internet Options window, it is a good idea to check how much disk space the Temporary Internet Files folder is using. It is recommended that you use 50MB to 250MB. I personally use the minimum of 50 MB. Also, you can specify how many days Internet Explorer should save the list of websites you have visited. The fewer days you set it for, the less space it takes. I set mine to 2 days.

The second step is to find and delete old files that you don't need or use anymore. Most of these files will be located in the My Documents folder. To open up that folder, click the start button and then click on the Documents icon. On some computers you will need to click on the My Computer icon and then click on the My Documents icon. Once you have that folder open, find a file you want to delete and right click on it. Select delete, then confirm by clicking Yes. To select multiple files, hold down the Control button and select as many as you want. Then right click on one of the highlighted files and select delete. Once you confirm the deletion, they will be sent to the Recycle Bin. It is a good idea to search the sub folders to make sure there are no more files that you want to delete.

The newer versions of Windows, like XP and Vista, take occasional snapshots of your hard drive called Restore Points. They are created as a backup feature just in case something goes wrong with a software install or uninstall so you can restore your computer to an earlier working condition. While they are great to have, they can take up a lot of space on your hard drive. To remove all but the most recent restore point, click on the Start button, go to All Programs > Accessories > System Tools and click on Disk Cleanup. Select the C Drive and click OK. Click the More Options tab. In the box labeled System Restore, click the Clean Up button. Your old, unneeded restore points are removed from your hard drive now. You can disable System Restore if you want, but it is not covered in this tutorial and it is not recommended to do so.

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